KUALA LUMPUR: Female artistes are a popular target for wealthy individuals on the hunt for hired companions.
Some are even willing to fork out a hundred thousand ringgit or more to experience the satisfaction and the artistes are contacted by both men and women, according to Harian Metro.
Some reach out through social media with certain conditions including a safeguard for privacy to fish for agreeable meetups with these sought-after artistes.
One such victim is actress Wafariena, 28, who has received such offers many times through various platforms.
In the news report, she said that most are women online but she has no idea if their social media profiles are real or fake.
The men utilise their actual social media profiles and usually offer to meet in a luxurious place.
"I was once offered a payment of RM150,000 for one night. The lowest was RM15,000, while some also offered RM20,000 and RM30,000.
"As for the women, they would ask if I wanted to meet a rich individual. They promised that I would be paid whatever amount I wanted.
"As for the men, they wanted some conditions to be met and for their privacy to be taken care of. For example, no taking pictures. Their reason was that they just wanted to take me to dinner," she said.
Wafariena, who never took up any of the offers, thought it was funny to receive such requests.
Another actress is Wanna Ali, 27, who has no desire to entertain such activities despite the promise of lucrative payment.
"I know that many famous artistes are involved in this kind of activity. There is an ibu ayam (pimp) who looks after and organises them.
"They don't sell themselves and the offers are just to provide companionship. When it was offered to me, I felt a bit angry but didn't get emotional about it.
"It's up to the individual. I believe people do it when they're in a tight situation. I won't judge them for it," she said.
Wanna added that she knows a woman who did it to take care of her family in the kampung.
"She is the eldest child who supports the family. If I look at it from that angle, I feel bad because I am not in her shoes as someone who bears the responsibility of supporting the whole family like her," she said.
Another victim of these unsolicited offers is actress, Puteri Sarah Liyana, 39, who was surprised at first but also a tad curious about the goings-on of this enterprise.
"I got the offer when I was filming at a police station. I wanted to accept it just to be a 'spy' because I wanted to know how the activity was carried out.
"The offer came from a woman posing as actress Nadia Brian. She asked what time I finished shooting. She asked me to meet someone known as Datuk Shahrul at 10pm.
"She then added that photos and videos were prohibited. This was to accompany someone for coffee and the payment would be RM15,000. Eventually, I firmly told the person that I do not do this kind of work," she said.
Meanwhile, Seniman president Zed Zaidi, 43, said that he was aware of such activities which had gone unnoticed since it was done in a secretive manner.
He added that only a handful of artistes were involved.
Zed also advised these artistes not to abuse their popularity and resort to these types of activities even if they were facing challenges in life.
He said that Seniman is serious about protecting the welfare of artistes and would be able to provide help and counseling services to those involved.
"Seniman has a special medical counselor to provide aid from a psychological perspective. This is for artistes who have experienced trauma, anxiety, or other mental health issues.
"For example, those who have to resort to those activities as a result of not getting any job offers.
"We are always open to help them and they do not need to be afraid because we will take care of their privacy. The sessions would help them return to a normal lifestyle," he said.
